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New 'Star Trek' spinoff series 'Starfleet Academy' beaming to Paramount+
A show that follows space cadets in training is reportedly bound for the small screen.
Even as we wait for official word on where Star Trek will boldly go next on the big screen, on television, the iconic franchise is streaming full speed ahead. In addition to its recent reveal of the full spring schedule for all things Enterprise at Paramount+, the platform has reportedly given liftoff to a new Trek-themed series that follows cadet-in-training life at Starfleet Academy.
Citing sources close to the franchise, Deadline reports that Paramount+ is indeed moving forward with plans for a new series titled Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, whose name harkens to Interplay’s 1997 Star Trek: Starfleet Academy video game. That report indicates that the project is planned for a followup debut as the next major Star Trek spinoff after Section 31, featuring Michelle Yeoh as Star Trek: Discovery’s Philippa Georgiou, finally gets off the ground.
Though we’d already suspected that a Starfleet Academy show was in the works — potentially from The O.C. executive producers Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz — Deadline indicates that Absentia co-creator Gaia Violo is “working on a take for the project.” The show is reportedly being developed by CBS Studios and Star Trek franchise mastermind Alex Kurtzman's Secret Hideout production company.
Early details on the show are slight, but they’re also right in line with what the title suggests. Star Trek: Starfleet Academy will reportedly be “set among the college of cadets mentored for leadership roles in the United Federation of Planets space force,” according to the report, which indicates the show will be “pitched to Paramount+ shortly” with plans to enter full development next year.
Kurtzman confirmed to Deadline that something new and Trek-related was in the works beyond Section 31, but declined to comment further on whether it’s Starfleet Academy. He did say, though, that Paramount+ definitely has large-scale plans for more distant Star Trek titles that haven’t yet been revealed. “We have to think several years out,” he explained. “We’re thinking about knowing we’ll want new shows on the air two or three years from now so we have to start planning those now. There’s a bunch of things in development now that are starting to take shape and we’re super excited about it.”
Shaping the wider Star Trek universe might be a years-long enterprise (ahem), but we’re just a mere week away from fresh Trek TV content. Star Trek: Discovery makes its midseason return on Feb. 10, followed by the March 3 premiere of Patrick Stewart in Season 2 of Star Trek: Picard. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds arrives at last on May 5, while animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks beams its third season onto Paramount+ beginning this summer.
